Sunday morning

Been kind of a rough week off and on.  Earaches aren't something I'm usually bothered with but that wasn't the case these past few days.  I went to bed last night and had to get up within the hour to see what I could take so Mr. Sandman would visit.  Tylenol just wasn't cutting it so I switched back to Iboprofen. I'd been told to avoid it but I wanted the pain gone so I made a decision to go with it.  I've been up two hours now and (dare I type this) no earaches yet.  Still...I can feel the outside edges of something buzzing around.  We'll see.

I do have a morning doctor appt tomorrow to discuss my last blood draw results so I've got my fingers crossed that she'll have a solution for the ear trouble, as well.  My lab numbers haven't been anything to write home about.  I got the results online this past weekend and after researching what they meant, I'm prepared to be told changes are going to have to be made.  At least 4 or 5 of them weren't ideal numbers.  Not surprising really as I haven't felt up to par for months because of one thing or another.  Another sidebar of aging.  Sigh....

Hunter came by on Friday afternoon and did a few little chores for me.  Took the backs off of a few solar yard lights I had so we could replace the batteries.  I especially loved this one that changes color. I've got the lights set in potted plants on my deck so I can sit in my recliner at night and observe them all. Ha!  The things I find to amuse myself in my old age.

He also managed to get the backs off of two watches I had.  I had asked several people at different times over the years to remove those backs so I could replace the batteries but no one was able to manage it. I took it to the jewelry counter at Penneys a few years ago as I figured it needed one of those fancy tools to get the back removed.  The clerk wanted to charge me $10 just to remove it but I declined as the watch itself was only worth that much.  So many times I've wished I had a watch on my wrist and I'm thrilled that I'm getting that back.  Will buy a battery tomorrow after the doctor appt.  I do have my cell phone, of course, but it's not always handy to pull that out of my purse, and click it on just to find out the time.  Thank you Hunter!

I had mentioned to him that in order to use the flat screen tv in my bedroom, I had to unplug and plug in the tv from the wall. The remote will change channels but the on/off doesn't work.  He went over to the TV and pushed a button. WaLAA!  Now, how come, I didn't think of that?  Because the button blended in and I never even seen the thing!  Old eyes I guess.

Yesterday I pulled out a couple of picture albums and realized there were several old photos that I had overlooked scanning to my hard drive.  I spent a couple hours working on that project and then retrieved three photo boxes that I figured probably also had some photos I wanted to scan.  I've still got an idea floating around in my head about how I want to write my memoirs and include pictures along the way.  I've got A TON to choose from.

I also want to write a family history of sorts and include photos in that project. I've been surfing through newspapers.com before my subscription runs out and while I wish they had more to choose from, I'm copying everything of interest.  I think I'm going to write to the historical society in Ramsey, IL to try and get more info on my grandpa's family when they lived there.  Was really hoping the newspaper website would have some info but it's pretty much hit and miss all across the US.  Port Townsend, for example, has nothing but the Port Angeles paper does have some PT news and they're featured (at least some years).  Except for a short note about my step-mom, Marcella, opening a daycare and my aunt Lorraine being in a choir, about the only things I could find in the PA papers were activities of my cousin, Jimmy, and my brothers, Les and Dana.  Jimmy and Les were full of mischief (much like I was at that age) but Dana took another route and excelled in track.  His efforts were rewarded with a number of articles.

I also found a  short article on Jacob Stark who married my grandpa's oldest sister, Georgia. His obit said he was prominent in business and I know they owned several hotels. This was from a Sept 1888
story in the Chicago Tribune. (they lived in IL before moving to Oregon)

I also discovered that their daughter, Inez, who taught at several schools in Wash State, was also involved in music.

I've been especially interested in learning more about Inez because she had kind of a colorful past. Her relatives live in North Carolina but it's been difficult to get them to communicate.  So often people are either "into genealogy" or "into it just now and then."  I'm not giving up, though, as I want to read her obit and a cousin back there told me she'd hunt for it.

I guess I'll start sorting through those photo boxes now.  I set up a new jigsaw puzzle yesterday -- 1000 piece of state national parks so I'll play around with that while I watch golf.  Tonight is the finale of 'Call the Midwife' but that was about all I could find of interest.  I watched a 1994 movie on Netflix last night called 'Nobody's Fool.'  I'd seen it before but it was worth a second look. Paul Newman was nominated for an oscar but there were some really good movies out that year and he lost to Tom Hanks.

TOM HANKS in "Forrest Gump", Morgan Freeman in  "The Shawshank Redemption", Nigel Hawthorne in "The Madness of King George", Paul Newman in "Nobody's Fool", John Travolta in  "Pulp Fiction"

Some of the pictures I scanned were of quilts I'd made.  Actually put me in the mood to get going in that back bedroom again on my sewing skills.